Strauss’ The Blue Danube, to Be Broadcast into Deep Space to Mark Composer’s 200th Birthday
General News
Monday 26th, May 2025
2 minute read.
A recording of Johann Strauss II’s famous waltz The Blue Danube will be transmitted into deep space on the 31st of May 2025 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Austrian composer’s birth and the 50th anniversary of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The piece, performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, will be sent from ESA’s deep space antenna located in Cebreros, Spain. The signal will travel at the speed of light, approximately 1.08 billion kilometres per hour and is expected to pass the Moon in 1.5 seconds, reach Mars in around 4.5 minutes, arrive at Jupiter in 37 minutes, and pass Neptune in roughly four hours.
According to ESA, the signal is also expected to reach NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft in approximately 23 hours. Voyager 1 is currently more than 24 billion kilometres from Earth.
This initiative comes as a symbolic gesture to rectify what ESA described as a “cosmic mistake”. The original Voyager Golden Records, launched aboard NASA's Voyager spacecraft in 1977, included a curated selection of global music but omitted Strauss's The Blue Danube, despite its cultural significance and association with space exploration through its use in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
ESA stated,
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher commented, “Strauss’ Blue Danube is part of the cultural heritage of all humankind. We are proud to send it into deep space on this historic occasion”.
The recording was made during a rehearsal in Vienna on the 18th of May 2025 and will be the version transmitted. The live performance and the transmission event will be broadcast to the public through free screenings in Vienna, Madrid, and New York.
The transmission follows other musical messages beamed into space in the past, including The Beatles' Across the Universe and Missy Elliott’s The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly).
The broadcast forms part of a wider celebration of Strauss’s legacy and the ESA’s ongoing mission to unite science, art, and public engagement across Europe and beyond.
The piece, performed by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, will be sent from ESA’s deep space antenna located in Cebreros, Spain. The signal will travel at the speed of light, approximately 1.08 billion kilometres per hour and is expected to pass the Moon in 1.5 seconds, reach Mars in around 4.5 minutes, arrive at Jupiter in 37 minutes, and pass Neptune in roughly four hours.
According to ESA, the signal is also expected to reach NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft in approximately 23 hours. Voyager 1 is currently more than 24 billion kilometres from Earth.
This initiative comes as a symbolic gesture to rectify what ESA described as a “cosmic mistake”. The original Voyager Golden Records, launched aboard NASA's Voyager spacecraft in 1977, included a curated selection of global music but omitted Strauss's The Blue Danube, despite its cultural significance and association with space exploration through its use in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
ESA stated,
“We are correcting a cosmic mistake. It is time for Strauss’ masterpiece to take its rightful place among the stars.”
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher commented, “Strauss’ Blue Danube is part of the cultural heritage of all humankind. We are proud to send it into deep space on this historic occasion”.
The recording was made during a rehearsal in Vienna on the 18th of May 2025 and will be the version transmitted. The live performance and the transmission event will be broadcast to the public through free screenings in Vienna, Madrid, and New York.
The transmission follows other musical messages beamed into space in the past, including The Beatles' Across the Universe and Missy Elliott’s The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly).
The broadcast forms part of a wider celebration of Strauss’s legacy and the ESA’s ongoing mission to unite science, art, and public engagement across Europe and beyond.
